INTERVIEW-Egypt general could be new leader-Islamist

LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Egypt's armed forces chief of
staff Sami Enan could be an acceptable successor to Hosni
Mubarak because he is perceived as incorruptible, a member of
the banned Muslim Brotherhood said on Tuesday.

Kamel El-Helbawy, a prominent overseas cleric from Egypt's
main opposition movement, told Reuters that Enan, who has good
ties with Washington, was a liberal who could be seen as
suitable by an opposition coalition taking shape on the streets
of Egypt.

"He can be the future man of Egypt," Helbawy said in a
telephone interview.

"I think he will be acceptable ... because he has enjoyed
some good reputation. He is not involved in corruption. The
people do not know him (as corrupt)."

Helbawy said Enan was not an Islamist but "a good, liberal
man".

Little is known internationally about Enan, believed to be
in his early 60s, other than he appears to have spent much of
his career in air defence.

A profile on Silobreaker, the news and information
monitoring service, gives his date and place of birth as 1948,
in Cairo, and says he was trained in both Russia and France as
well at a military academy in Egypt.

He held senior roles in air defence before being appointed
to his current job in 2005, the website indicates.

Egypt's military -- the world's 10th largest with more than
468,000 members -- have been a central force in politics since
army officers staged an overthrow of the monarchy in 1952.

A member since 1952, Helbawy has long been a prominent
member of the Brotherhood's overseas thinkers, working in
Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Britain.

In the mid-1990s he served as the Brotherhood's spokesman in
the West, and helped create the Muslim Council of Britain and
the Muslim Association of Britain.

Enan appears to have cordial ties with Washington.

Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
held a telephone conversation with Enan on Sunday in which he
urged restraint from Egypt's military, but at the same time
praised the "professionalism" of Egypt's armed forces, a
Pentagon spokesman, Capt. John Kirby, said at that time.

Egypt receives about $1.3 billion a year in U.S. military
aid, assistance that could be jeopardized if the army moved
against the demonstrations.

Enan and more than 20 other Egyptian officers were in
Washington for long-planned talks when the unrest broke out in
Cairo and other cities. They were attending the Military
Cooperation Committee, an Egyptian-U.S. body that is chaired by
Enan and Assistant U.S. Secretary of Defense Sandy Vershbow.

As a result of the situation at home, Enan cut short the
mission and flew home.

Helbawy added that an opposition "coalition" led by former
Egyptian diplomat Mohamed ElBaradei felt Mubarak's departure was
"the only way to avoid bloodshed and avoid more conflict".

"So he should be advised, especially by the Americans, to
leave the country or to just step down."

Helbawy said new Vice President Omar Suleiman could be an
interim leader but not a long-term successor to Mubarak.

The Brotherhood is Egypt's largest opposition movement and
is likely to influence the shaping of any post-Mubarak Egypt.

Helbawy said of the Brotherhood's role: "The Brotherhood is
now forming a part of this coalition led by ElBaradei, so they
are no longer working for their own private agenda. They are
working in a coalition with ElBaradei."

It has promoted itself in recent years as a reformist group
struggling against Mubarak's autocracy.

In London on Saturday, British Foreign Secretary William
Hague told reporters Britain would "would not want to see a
government based on the Muslim Brotherhood", although it was not
up to Britain to determine who ran Egypt.

Western governments disapprove of the Brotherhood's support
of the Palestinian movement Hamas, which is listed as a
terrorist group by the European Union and Washington
(Editing by Giles Elgood)